Inferring the inspiration of those who lived hundreds of centuries ago is a risky business, and so we’re well advised not to overreach. But when you consider the ordeal required to reach at least some of these sites—archaeologist David Lewis-Williams describes how explorers now and, presumably, cave artists then “crouched and crawled underground along a narrow, absolutely dark passage for more than a kilometre, slid along mud banks and waded through dark lakes and hidden rivers”6—an art-for-art’s-sake explanation seems less plausible. Even those of our ancient brethren with an especially
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